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Archive for February, 2006

it’s time for another quick round up of randomness that i’ve managed to capture with my cameraphone around toronto.

i don’t know why, but i’m obviously a bit obsessed by intentionally and unintentionally humouroussigns i find in washrooms. here’s another one to add to the collection:

it takes a lot of effort for me to not pull this valve conveniently located in the stairwell outside of my office door every time i walk past it:

what’s the best way to protect yourself on the ttc? that’s right, with lab goggles, a mask and gardening gloves. oh, and a ripped hat. it’s a shame the hospital bracelet isn’t obvious in this pic:

not to be confused with the guy who rammed his van full of toys and pasted pennies all over it, here’s someone who glued birds and tree branches to their car for some reason. what the photo doesn’t show clearly is that one of the birds apparently came unglued and smashed the bottom right corner of the windshield. good judgement:

you know it’s election time at u of t when every street light pole is covered with dozens of posters. the following is my favourite, but i’m still curious which “event” he would be directing…

finally, a shiny nickel to the first person who can help me identify this genuine canadian pseudo-celeb, as seen at the price chopper deli counter. i know i’ve seen him in commercials, i just can’t put my finger on which:
i bet he never thought he’d have to face the paparazzi. shows what he knows…

i started my new job this week, and it’s been fantastic but crazy busy. as a result, i haven’t had a chance to write anything about last weekend yet. i’ll make it brief, since no one but me cares about a week ago.

last friday was danny michel at the rivoli, with opener lindi (not to be confused with lindy, who is a guy, and who opened the last time i saw danny). lindi was very forgettable, so the details are pretty hazy a week later. danny’s set was like a retrospective of all of his shows i’ve seen (and, you know, i feel like a groupie since i’ve seen him 6 or 7 times in the last couple of years). he played all my favourites, had fabulous banter, and even referenced the danny michel drinking game (do a shot every time he says “heart” or “stars”), christopher walken, and fainting goats. as an added bonus, he also spent a lot of time poking fun at himself for his inclusion in a budweiser commercial (one that debuted during the super bowl, no less). a fun time, but i’d have expected nothing less.

saturday night was one of the wavelength anniversary shows at the music gallery. i wasn’t counting on it to rival last year’s version (featuring final fantasy, thanksgiving and holy fuck), but it was still pretty solid. ohbijou were the first act we caught (missing woodhands), and they were excellent. lots of strings and keys and a solid voice = fun pop. gentleman reg even leant his voice to a song, as an added bonus.

picastro were next, and they unfortunately proved to me that the presence of owen pallett in a band doesn’t necessarily make it good. i found the songs to be droney and boring, and i just couldn’t get into the vocals. it was almost hypnotizing at times, but not in a good way. and no, i couldn’t hear owen’s voice since he wasn’t miked.

the hylozoists headlined and were a lot of fun. when was the last time you saw a band featuring 3 vibraphones, strings and 2 drummers? their songs were mostly instrumental, and were unlike any band i’ve seen. the songs got a little bit samey after a while, but i was still impressed…and surprise! wayne petti of cuff the duke fame is the band’s pianist, and lends his vocals to a couple songs.

so, no, it wasn’t as good as last year’s wavelength bash, but it was still pretty fun overall.

consider this post to be a pre-emptive spoiler to any future law & order: svu or law & order: criminal intent episodes.

here’s a simple rule to determining the bad guy on either l&o spinoff within the first 15 minutes, if you haven’t already figured this out for yourself. if you recognize any of the guest stars, be it from a previous l&o episode or just as a semi-famous actor, there is a 90% chance that they will turn out to be evil. true, they sometimes do a good job of psyching you out – take the most recent svu episode, guest starring rebecca demornay as a woman in a wheel chair. that’s right – bad guy…who could walk after all! it doesn’t have to be someone of her calibre though – recognize a character as “that guy who once played a schizophrenic on l&o” or “that woman who once played a pharmacist on svu?” yeah, they’re probably going to turn out to have commited multiple homocides.

it’s like degrassi’s playing with time repertory company. did you have a good performance as a homeless junky witness / girl who has an epileptic seizure at a sleepover? congratulations, you get upgraded to a more prominent role in the future! law and order has always liked to recycle actors, which is how you can go from a single mom who lost a baby to the precinct’s lieutenant, or from a defense attorney to a wise cracking cop. note that i’m still awaiting torquil campbell’s return to svu after his portrayal as an abused kid. maybe he could be the series’ new shrink!

anyway, feel free to play along with law and order rules. one caveat: they don’t seem to apply to the regular series. go figure.